Fate
by Pokeshadow55
Summary: Whether or not fate or destiny existed in any given timeline at any given moment was irrelevant: some things were just meant to happen, regardless of how they would eventually come around. A Phanniemay fic, written for the prompt "Portal".


**A/N: Finally, it's done! My first Phanniemay fic! I'd written something else for this, but then I realized that it fit the next theme (which is _Dreams) _far better than it did the first theme, _Portal_. I felt like I had to fix that. I came up with, half-wrote, then tossed aside at least half a dozen ideas before I finally got this one down, and I have to say, I'm actually rather proud of it. And look, it wasn't the dead of night when I wrote a story this time!**

**All my Phanniemay fics will be standalones unless I say otherwise, by the way! Also, this fic (and the other fics most likely) are un-beta'd. I've done my best to edit, and I apologize in advance for any other mistakes I've missed.**

**Here's the link to the event calendar, for anyone who wants to know about or participate or something: ****thickerthanectoplasm - tumblr - com + post + 115991864721  
****In which the hyphens (-) are the plus signs (+) are slashes (/).**

**My Dutiful Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or Phanniemay! I'm just a participant in an event and a lover of a childrens TV show that first aired about eleven years ago. uwu**

* * *

Danny gazed into the metal monstrosity before him, only half-listening to the monologue being given by his parents. They were going on and on, something about them working on the portal a really long time ago back in their college days. He wasn't really sure, and he didn't really care to focus on what it was they were saying, instead focusing on the great mass of steel and wires. There was something about the portal that kept bugging him and as he stared inside his gut feeling made him want to look closer and run away at the exact same time. He wondered if Jazz had the right idea about all this; she'd gone to the library, stating _"studying for schoolwork and my future job as a psychologist is more important"_ and to _"just show me the portal later"_. At least, it was something along those lines. He hadn't really listened to whatever it was she'd said, either.

"Danny, sweetie, would you step back a bit? We're going to turn the portal on now and we're not sure whether or not the portal is going to discharge energy when it activates." His mother's voice broke him from his thoughts and he looked over at her, where she was reviewing information on the blueprints and a control panel. Danny quickly took a few steps back, lingering close so as to watch its activation.

"Alright, here goes! A defining moment for science and the study of ghosts!" Jack all but shouted, excitedly plugging the portal into the power cord. He set the two wires down and stepped to the side with Maddie, leaving Danny to stand before the portal as electricity and ecto-energy sparked to life inside. They could see the faint white sparks floating inside, the occasional green light flickering within as the electricity and ecto-energy slowly gathered in the center.

Suddenly the energy levels from the portal spiked, swirls of dark and light greens violently writhing and expanding to seemingly fill the whole thing. The ectoplasm seemed to form a swirling sheet, which bulged as the power emanating from the portal fluxed. Danny took another few steps back, eyes wide. A powerful sense of foreboding entered him as the portal wavered between existence and nonexistence, flickering like a television screen and pulsing in and out with power.

Danny couldn't help the startled scream that tore through him when the energy from the portal, rather than stabilizing or vanishing from existence, exploded _outwards_, into the lab.

* * *

He stood before the portal, one hand on the tools around his waist and the other braced against the side of the steel frame. Taking a deep breath, Danny stepped inside, mindful of the wires, cables, and piping that lay on the ground. He flicked the flashlight wrapped around his head on, letting the light illuminate what the lab lights couldn't reach.

He scanned the inside of the portal critically, searching for any sort of broken plating or loose wires. A metal plate, slightly skewed from its position on the wall caught his attention, and quickly he walked over, carefully stepping over the pipes that supplied ectoplasm to the portal itself.

Danny nimbly loosened the rest of the screws holding the plate up, setting it on the ground with a quiet _c__lang_ before turning his attention to what had been hidden behind it. He sighed; sure enough, a series of disconnected and faintly sparking wires sat inside, ensuring that so long as it remained unfixed, the portal wasn't starting up anytime soon. Peeking outside the portal and at the breaker outside, he double-checked that the power was off and the sparks were nothing more than residual energy before getting to work.

He quickly engrossed himself in his work, carefully tying and soldering different connections and wires together to make sure they held for a good long time, even when the portal was operational. Danny never noticed the breaker flipping and the lights in the lab shutting off, only to turn back on as the house's back-up generator kicked in, his own insulated hazmat jumpsuit protecting him from the danger of the electricity that began to unknowingly thrum beneath his fingertips.

Danny cried out when as he connected the last of the wires, everything began to spark and hum, and he had a single moment to realize what had just happened before his entire world changed and he _screamed_.

* * *

"I dunno about this, Sam..." Danny winced as the goth tossed a few bolts and papers aside, pulling open a drawer and yanking out two extra jumpsuits from within. He absently pulled at his sleeves, fixing the hazmat suit against his skin.

"Oh come on, Danny, it's a portal to another universe! I'm definitely getting in on this action, and since we're all here, why not Tucker too?" She replied with a grin, tossing the pale yellow and black suit at the techno geek.

"Ordinarily I wouldn't be so up to the idea, but you have to admit Danny, the portal _is_ pretty cool." Tucker said, grimacing at the tacky safety suit but pulling it on nonetheless. "We're all here, and your parents said it doesn't work anyway, right? Where's the harm?"

"Exactly, Tuck. So, lead the way, oh great wannabe astronaut." Sam pulled the dark purple suit over her clothes, zipping it up and yanking the symbol of Jack's face off the front with a sharkish smile in his direction. Danny sighed and rolled his eyes, turning around and stepping into the portal, his best friends behind him.

"Well, I'm not really sure what to say, other than that it's just an empty hole in the wall that's supposed to lead to another dimension..." He began, stopping when he felt something beneath his fingers give way when he placed it against the wall just in case.

"Oh no."

* * *

"Are you serious? There isn't a single universe where I don't end up getting ghost powers or start hunting ghosts?"

Clockwork couldn't keep the smile off his face at Danny's apparent ire and incredulous expression; he wasn't really angry or upset about it, it was just hard to believe there wasn't a single world where he end up involved with ghosts somehow.

"There are many timelines and universes in existence. You, of all people, should know about that, given how many of them you've managed to visit." Danny gave a sheepish grin as Clockwork continued, shifting from child to young man as he did. "Of course there are timelines in which you remain uninvolved with ghosts, but the number of universes where you _do_ get involved are far more numerous than those in which you don't. Now, does this finally answer all of the questions you expressed wanting to ask me?"

Danny frowned, his eyes drifting to the ground as he thought, before he looked back up into the red eyes of the time ghost. "No, I've just got one more."

Clockwork nodded. There were only a few possible questions he would ask, and he could easily predict which one he would hear; "And that is?"

"Is there such a thing as fate?"

The time ghost blinked once slowly before giving him a small smile, changing into an elder. "Whether or not fate or destiny exist is never the question, Danny. Sometimes, regardless of their own states of existence in any given universe, things are set to happen anyway, regardless of how it may come around to happening." He chuckled at Danny's surprised face, before waving him off with a tilt of his head. "Your parents will wonder what's keeping you if you stay any longer. Go, Danny. Simply be glad that the choices you've made thus far have kept you alive and well."

Danny blinked, looking down at his watch. "Oh my gosh, you're right!" He floated up, his legs forming into a tail. He gave the ghost a small salute and a grin. "I'll see you later, Clockwork!"

And with that, he flew off.

Clockwork just smiled, turning his gaze towards his time screens and changing his appearance once more.

In an infinite number of universes and before a countless number of beings, not all of whom actually existed in the universe they were gazing at, a nearly unlimited number of baby blue eyes opened in tandem with their glowing green counterparts, marking the start of a new time for each and every world they existed in.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, trust me, this one fills the prompt for today _WAY_ better than the other one did. Much, much better. I rather enjoyed writing this one, honestly. I hope you enjoy this as well, and leave a review if at all possible, please and thank you! I'll see you all next time.**

**Edit: I missed a couple of errors at least three times earlier. Also, I just got a tumblr. The link's on my profile~ Sorry everybody!**


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